‘Tim-Houthi Chalamet,’ 19-year-old becomes TikTok sensation for romanticising Red Sea attacks

A young ‘influencer’ from war-torn Yemen has become a TikTok sensation in Arab nations by promoting a contentious cause: Support for attacks against ships and vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels. The 19-year-old Rashed Al-Haddad, who lives in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa has been dubbed as "Tim-Huthi Chalamet" by netizens as he looks like "Wonka" star Timothee Chalamet.

"I received many offers to participate in fashion shows and advertisements, but I decided to take advantage of this fame for the Palestinian cause," the so-called influencer was quoted as saying by AFP.

Rashed Al-Haddad has so far made the most out of the crisis in the West Asian region, boosting his reach on social media through making a crazy popular video shot aboard Galaxy Leader, the Israel-linked cargo ship that was captured in November.

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The Houthi rebels have disrupted the global shipping routes by waging relentless attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, causing companies to opt for longer and costlier alternative around South Africa. These actions have led the US to declare Houthis a terrorist organisation and an international coalition led by the US and UK to launch strikes in Yemen.

With increased international attention on Yemen, Rashed too witnessed a drastic rise in his popularity and user engagement on social media.

“When I started on TikTok, I posted videos of the ship (Galaxy Leader) that was seized by the Yemenis. When I posted the video clips, they reached millions of views within four days," he told AFP in Sanaa, wearing a combat belt with a rifle slung across his lap.

Support for what most Western nations see as ‘terrorism’ led TikTok to delete his account permanently. He was also deplatformed from Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta, for violating their hate speech guidelines.

"Three of my TikTok accounts were banned as well, but I have created new accounts, and thankfully, the number of followers is increasing," Haddad added.

He said he was happy to have connected with many westerners, who followed his accounts across social media platforms.

Watch:Houthis order UN staff from US, UK to leave Yemen in a month

"I'm not thinking of becoming famous because I'm handsome in order to do advertisements or to be an actor,” he said, while shrugging off comparisons with Hollywood's Chalamet.

(With inputs from agencies)